World WarT produced significant economic, social, political, and cultural changes in America. An influenza virus that killed millions worldwide made the movement from war to peace even more diffi-cult. The flu pandemic created a sense of doom and dread.
The and of the war spelled the end of wartime economic oppor tunities for women and African Americans. Adding to this crisis atmosphere were normal postwar adjustments. Falling agricultural prices made it difficult for farmers to pay their debts, Inflation, or rising prices, meant industrial workers" wages did not buy as much as they had bought during the war. All around the country, workers struck for higher wages and shorter workdays. They won some of the strikes, but they lost far more
The violence of some strikes was often attributed to the presence of radicals among the strike leaders. The emergence of the Sovict
Thion as a comnunist nation rouupounded the Tear of radicals and
communists. Communist ideology called for an international workers revolution, and communist revolts in Central and Enstern Europe made it seem like the worldwide revolution was starting Widespread fear of suspected communists and radicals thought to be plotting revolution within the United States prompred the first American Red Scare, In early 1920/ Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer mounted a senies of raids, known as the Palmer Raids. Police bitested thousands of people, some who were radicals and some who were simply immigrants from southern on Eastern Europe. To many, these actions seemed to attack the liberties thas Americans held most dear, By the summer et 1920, the Red Scare hysteria had eun it course. Warren G. Harding campaigned for President calling for a return to "normalcy " Harding wor in a landslide
Вм 1920,
the United States was the richest, most industnalized
om the world.
Whe Unted Stales waw alad the largest cred bor
nation in the world, menning that other countries owed the United States more money than the United States owed them. As a result of World War Tementas econom cand pottica, Standing in the
world had rundamentally cringed
Review Questions
1. Deactibe the problems Americans faced immediately after the
2 how dia the war chanse Amente's tole in world afisirst
1. Americans faced economic challenges such as falling agricultural prices, inflation, and a lack of wartime economic opportunities for women and African Americans. There were also social challenges such as strikes for higher wages and shorter workdays, as well as political challenges like the first American Red Scare and the Palmer Raids.
2. The war changed America's role in world affairs by increasing its economic power and influence. The United States emerged as the richest and most industrialized nation in the world, as well as the largest creditor nation. This shift in power fundamentally changed America's standing in the world and its economic and political relationships with other countries.
Reading check: why did Harding win the 1920 presidential election?
Vocabulary builder: what does the word emergence means in the underlined sentence? What clues can you find in the root word? Name a synonym for the root word.
Reading skill: identify the main factors that led to the first American red scare.
Reading check: Harding won the 1920 presidential election by campaigning for a return to "normalcy" and appealing to the American people's desire for stability and a return to pre-war economic conditions.
Vocabulary builder: The word "emergence" in the underlined sentence refers to something coming into existence or prominence. Clues in the root word "emerge" suggest the idea of something coming out or becoming visible. A synonym for "emerge" could be appear.
Reading skill: The main factors that led to the first American Red Scare included the fear of radicals and communists plotting revolution within the United States, the rise of the Soviet Union as a communist nation, and communist revolts in Central and Eastern Europe. The Palmer Raids, in which thousands of suspected radicals and immigrants were arrested, contributed to the hysteria surrounding the Red Scare.